I think he had to grow up pretty quick. He hasn't gotten too many breaks. No one gave him anything once he came into the league. He's had to earn what he has now. I think he's doing a great job. I think he's on course. Keep in mind he's 16 years old. He needs time to develop.
"Benjamin Robert "Ben" Olsen" is a former American professional soccer player and the current head coach of D.C. United. Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Olsen grew up playing for FC Delco, an elite club program near Philadelphia.
He later attended the University of Virginia, when he was named Soccer America Player of the Year Award#Men's/1997 Soccer America Player of the Year.
Olsen spent the majority of his professional career in the United States with D.C. United in Major League Soccer, which he joined straight out of college. Over the course of 12 seasons with United, Olsen made 221 appearances, scoring 29 goals and making 49 assists. During that time he won two MLS Cup titles, two MLS Supporters' Shields and one U.S. Open Cup winners medal. His individual honors include two-time Major League Soccer All-Star Game/MLS All-Star, 1998 MLS Rookie of the Year Award#Winners/MLS Rookie of the Year, MLS Cup '99 MVP and 2007 MLS Best XI.
Olsen also earned 37 Cap (sport)/caps with the United States men's national soccer team/United States men's national team, winning the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup and representing the United States at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Olsen announced his retirement from professional competition on 24 November 2009.
More Ben Olsen on Wikipedia.It's just D.C.-MetroStars stuff -- that's how they all are and that's how it's going to be. That's the beautiful side of a rivalry -- it's heated, there's passion and maybe you want to beat them more than another team because it's such a heated rivalry.
We thought they were a good team, but definitely a beatable team. We feel pretty confident we can come back with a result. The Pumas trip, we didn't know what to expect. I think we have a better chance in Chile. We feel more prepared, we feel we know what this team is about, their strengths, and we can adjust and adapt.
The realization right now is that we have one cup to play for. All the others are gone, and we've had some tough losses, but they're completely behind us. It's unfortunate and fortunate. It would've been nice to have stayed in those tournaments but it has also given us the opportunity to have one goal in sight.
I think, fortunately, some of the mania has died down for him. That can help all parties. It takes a little of the pressure off him. The expectations coming in for him were unrealistic. The people who don't have any knowledge about soccer thought he'd come in and score 15 goals a season and be the best player in the league. It doesn't happen like that. It's a process.
It's that time of the year when the intensity is raised. It happens every year, and I think we responded very well. We fought the battle and we also played some pretty good soccer in the meantime.
I kept having to remind the guys that I had scored goals in this league before, ... They all thought it was the biggest deal in the world for me.
The frustrating part is that we are losing these games -- I don't necessarily think these teams are winning them. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot, over and over. These are tough times and I know we're going to turn it around, but it's hard right now.
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